Gary LINEKER el rey del Clasico

After winning the Golden Boot at the 1986 World
Cup in Mexico, Lineker was signed by Barcelona. Barcelona were being managed by
former Queens Park Rangers manager Terry Venables. His Golden Boot-winning
performance at the finals led to much anticipation of success at the Camp Nou,
and he did not disappoint, scoring 21 goals in 41 games during his first
season, but for all the very loyal fans of Barça they still remeber that day,
the 31/01/1987 when Lineker scored a hat-trick and becomes a Barça hero. At Camp
Nou stadium, Barça wins 3-2 over arch-rivals Réal Madrid and reasserts league
leadership. Reminiscing those goals, Lineker, aware that rivalry between Barça
and Madrid transcends sport and comes to political tensions between catalans
and spaniards, once declared: “If there had been a roof on the stadium, it
would have been blown off. The sound was unbelievable. This was no derby. I
knew that this was Catalonia against the rest of Spain and I was one more
soldier in the Catalan army”. Gary LINEKER scored two goals in the first five
minutes (2’ and 5’) and proofed that he is a perfect natural striker. Have a
look of this two goals, Lineker scored hundred like this :

But my favourite is his last one just at the beginning
of the second half. Gary anticiped perfectly the opponent’s big fail. Barça
leads 3-0 and won the game 3-2 (Valdano & Hogo Sanchez for Madrid on the
last minutes) but it was the Gary LINEKER's day.

Gary LINEKER was probably the best striker in
the world at this time and the penalty box was his kingdom. So I never
understood why Johan CRUYFF when he became Barça’s manager in 1988 put Lineker
on the wing ??!! For me it was the biggest mistake of Cruyff in his career
manager.

Gary LINEKER : King of Spain

As we see it in the last topic (Gary LINEKER “el rey del Clasico”) Gary LINEKER had a flying start in 1987. At the end of
January he scored a perfect hat-trick to give the “Clasico” to Barcelona (win
3-2 over arch-rivals Real Madrid). 19 days after, he was stronger on Bernabeu
field with the Three Lions versus Spain. Gary Lineker sensationally scored four
goals in a stunning 33-minute goal-rush. England won in Spain 4-2. Real Madrid ‘s
defender Sanchis was so disappointed after this two games versus Lineker and
said after this second lost “Lineker is our black beast”. Lineker’s teammate Viv
Anderson confirmed : “I knew exactly how the Spain defenders felt after 90
minutes as I had been on the end of a six-goal hiding before when Gary was part
of that very good Everton team.He had moved to Barcelona by this time and, if
anything, his game had improved. He just had a sixth sense of when and where
the ball might land in the penalty area. He would be the first to tell you that
among the dozens of goals he scored, there weren't too many from outside the
area but he was certainly the best predator I ever played with”. Peter
Beardsley is also impressed by Lineker performance and opportunism: “I don't
think Gary realised just how good he was. He was one of the best finishers the
world has ever seen, and, without being big-headed, I think we had the perfect
partnership and he was a dream to play with”. And the last reaction but not the
least with Gary LINEKER himself. 24 years after his wonderful game he had a
look back of this particular game for him: “I became an adopted Catalan when I
scored a hat-trick against Real Madrid and followed it a month later with four
goals for England. Barcelona's slogan is ‘Mes que un club’, Catalan for 'More
than a club.' And it really is. After the Spanish Civil War, the only place the
locals could speak Catalan freely was in the Nou Camp, when the football was
on. Barca fans couldn't have been happier after this match - I woke up to headlines
in Barcelona along the lines of: 'Catalan player scores four goals against
Spain’”. Now the four goals in video:

The Playmakers

Daniel NYARI is a great artist. He was born in Romania and grew-up in
Austria before moving to New York City where is still living. He enyoys
football, ant especially artists in this sport. He calls them the
playmakers. For Daniel Nyari a plamaker is : "A Playmaker is a
player in football who leads attacks or brings other players on the same
side into a position from wich they could score. He often plays
centrally between the opposition's defence & attack". Now it's time to watch Daniel Nyari's art. It's magnificient and this his 25 playmakers in football history :

I'm so fan of his work. It's so brilliant so I would to do the same thing but with my own ressources...the Panini stickers.